Not only did Walter Thurmond help an Eagles safety corps that lacked stability for years, but he also enjoyed a career year in 2015. Now the six-year veteran might be looking to turn that into a big payday.
Pressed as to whether he would be interested in returning to the Eagles next season, the impending free agent acknowledged he would. However, he also sounded very much resigned to the possibility that the organization may not have the space under the salary cap to retain him.
"The decision's not up to me at the end of the day," Thurmond said. "Everyone's talking about me wanting to stay. It's not up to me. If you look at the numbers, they only have $17 million in cap space. I mean, do the numbers. It has nothing to do with me. I would love to be here, but it's just economically, it doesn't work, and I'm just being a realist with the situation.
"They could probably make it work cutting some guys. [It's up to] whoever the GM is going to be, as far as how they make that situation work. But at the end of the day, it's out of my control."
Thurmond signed a one-year contract last offseason and was expected to compete for playing time at cornerback. But when the depth chart suddenly became crowded and with the Eagles desperately in need of a starting safety, the long-time corner made the switch.
The 28-year-old recorded new personal bests with 71 tackles, two sacks, seven pass breakups, three interceptions and two forced fumbles this season, impressive considering he was playing a new position. Perhaps most important of all, Thurmond played 16 games for the first time in his NFL career.
Some team is going to make Thurmond a nice offer. He just didn't sound too convinced it would come from the Eagles, who have plenty of other issues on their hands and limited cap space to work with at the moment.
NFL
"At the end of the day, the monetary situation still remains as far as locking up key people on the team," Thurmond said. "You need to lock in the quarterback, you need to address the offensive line.
"There's just more that could be addressed other than myself unfortunately, depending on what the cap number is. There's a whole bunch of things that come in to play with me being able to stay here."
While different comings and goings this offseason may create a more favorable cap situation for the Eagles, Thurmond acknowledged one road the team might consider is drafting his successor.
"They have a lot of other issues to address," he said. "You can go draft a safety for a lot cheaper than it would be to retain me. It's just economical. It's business. I understand that."
Thurmond might be downplaying his importance to the Eagles. As far as drafting a safety is concerned, there's no guarantee a rookie would be ready to start next season. Plus the team is already without its second-round pick. What's more, the front office may value continuity at the safety position after going years without.
Still, while Thurmond wouldn't go so far as to say he's gone, clearly the decision on some level will boil down to club's finances.
"I think it's a possible situation, but then I think it could be an impossible situation, just as far as the monetary situation is concerned with the team and the cap space," Thurmond said. "The issues they need to address that are more important than signing a safety at the end of the day."
While it might sound as if Thurmond is taking a mercenary's approach, it was more a case of he genuinely doesn't know if the Eagles will be able to or want to pay him what he's worth. He actually stressed there was interest in a return, adding that he thought this roster had potential if the core could stay together.
"I would love to be back here," he said. "It's a great team here. I love the group of guys that I played with this season, and I see the potential that we do have. I think it's one of those things where there were a lot of new additions in the offseason that came in, and guys have to jell."
Thurmond is absolutely right in that a lot has to happen before the Eagles can even think about re-signing him. They need a head coach. They need to solidify the front office structure. They need to figure out what to do with free-agent quarterback Sam Bradford.
Once free agency draws near, we may get a better sense of how serious the Eagles are in retaining Thurmond, much less whether it is economically viable.